Real Estate News: Fewer Homes ‘Underwater’

Reverse Mortgage Debate Heats Up: A report by advocacy groups ignites a debate about whether reverse mortgages are too risky, just as the nation’s new consumer agency starts to examine the issue.

An ‘Ugly’ City Gets Its Due: For a different kind of tourist experience, a Belgian artist leads visitors around the city of Charleroi to see the city as he does: as a gloriously “ugly” series of odd and gritty industrial monuments.

Gas Rush Reshapes Town: Drill rigs sprouting up on dairy farms are transforming once-quiet Towanda, Pa., and dividing residents who welcome the economic boost from those who worry about the effects of development.

Fewer Homes ‘Underwater’: The number of homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth fell, but the decline stemmed from banks getting more aggressive on foreclosures, not from home values going up.